With all this talk of death recently I am reminded of a person who used to petrify the absolute hell out of me when I was a child. In hindsight it's quite interesting to observe how ones perception can be distorted with the influence of the media and their agenda or particular news angle.
I remember when Dr Kevorkian or as he came to be known famously as Dr Death first started making headlines in the media and how I thought the man must be evil and deranged to be killing people off. Weren't doctors supposed to help cure people and make them live longer? Admittedly I was rather young and impressionable at the time and whatever the media told me was the truth, right?
That's not to say this man wasn't a controversial figure at all. Amongst some of his opinions, he once wrote a paper in university declaring that willing prisoners should be put under anasthesia and experimented upon until they die. Can't say I have any qualms against this notion, particularly if the prisoner has agreed to this - surely it could save some animals from being tested on?
However one of the most striking things I have come to learn about Dr Death is his creative side. Aside from making various weird and wonderful appearances on public tv where he discussed his theories on a plethora of subjects, he was also a jazz musician (a surprisingly good one, at that) and artist.
His art. Wow. This really took me by surprise because previously I'd always had this unwarranted impression that the only things doctor's liked to do was play golf and collect stamps. Kevorkian, it would seem, had far more macabre and interesting tastes that certainly titilate my fancy. His explanation for the morbidity of his work was that he wasn't interested in "selling out" and making pictures depicting happiness - he wanted to illustrate the continual war of humanity, particularly that of human rights.
As an adult, I find Kevorkian to have been a very good natured person with a great sense of humour - he doesn't at all seem like the character the media portrayed to me when I was younger. In fact, it sort of frightens me that there may not be many doctors out there who are like him since he did basically the exact opposite of what most career-oriented people do today. He put his reputation, his income, career and basically his entire life on the line to stand up for what he believed in - he even went to jail for eight years for it. His invention of The Thanatron is interesting to read about because despite he himself being called Dr Death, the machine was a device with which the patient administered the final lethal dose.
My biggest regret is not learning about the man earlier because I would love to have written him a letter. Unfortunately I am too late and Dr Death has joined the club he helped contribute 130 other members to.
I remember when Dr Kevorkian or as he came to be known famously as Dr Death first started making headlines in the media and how I thought the man must be evil and deranged to be killing people off. Weren't doctors supposed to help cure people and make them live longer? Admittedly I was rather young and impressionable at the time and whatever the media told me was the truth, right?
That's not to say this man wasn't a controversial figure at all. Amongst some of his opinions, he once wrote a paper in university declaring that willing prisoners should be put under anasthesia and experimented upon until they die. Can't say I have any qualms against this notion, particularly if the prisoner has agreed to this - surely it could save some animals from being tested on?
However one of the most striking things I have come to learn about Dr Death is his creative side. Aside from making various weird and wonderful appearances on public tv where he discussed his theories on a plethora of subjects, he was also a jazz musician (a surprisingly good one, at that) and artist.
His art. Wow. This really took me by surprise because previously I'd always had this unwarranted impression that the only things doctor's liked to do was play golf and collect stamps. Kevorkian, it would seem, had far more macabre and interesting tastes that certainly titilate my fancy. His explanation for the morbidity of his work was that he wasn't interested in "selling out" and making pictures depicting happiness - he wanted to illustrate the continual war of humanity, particularly that of human rights.
As an adult, I find Kevorkian to have been a very good natured person with a great sense of humour - he doesn't at all seem like the character the media portrayed to me when I was younger. In fact, it sort of frightens me that there may not be many doctors out there who are like him since he did basically the exact opposite of what most career-oriented people do today. He put his reputation, his income, career and basically his entire life on the line to stand up for what he believed in - he even went to jail for eight years for it. His invention of The Thanatron is interesting to read about because despite he himself being called Dr Death, the machine was a device with which the patient administered the final lethal dose.
My biggest regret is not learning about the man earlier because I would love to have written him a letter. Unfortunately I am too late and Dr Death has joined the club he helped contribute 130 other members to.
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